So Cold
by Clara A. Rose
Summary: I know a ton of people have done this, or some variation of it, but I wanted to do it myself. Jack fell into the pond! *gasp* So please, please read. Do not read if you haven't watched Rise of the Guardians, because it will make no sense, and also totally spoil the movie for you. Read! Read! Read! Review! Review! Review! Please!
1. Chapter 1

"Be careful, honey." Jack's mother urged him, as she always did.  
As always, Jack just smiled. The quirky smile that had made him the trickster of the village, as well as lady's favorite, though he always denied that.  
"We will. " he assured her, herding his eight year old sister, Lily, out the door.  
He was taking Lily ice-skating, and despite the fact he had complained, he really didn't mind. Lily was fun to be with sometimes, in spite of the seven year age difference.  
Jack started skating, loving the wind rushing past his ears. He closed his eyes for a bit and just skated, until he heard a cry. Lily, not a practiced skater, had drifted over to some thin ice. There were a couple cracks under her skates. Jack moved swiftly towards his little sister, then realized the ice beneath his feet was cracking too.  
"It's okay," he said. "Don't look down, just look at me."

Lily whimpered. "Jack, I'm scared."

Jack knew how serious the situation was. On a frozen pond, a couple cracks could be deadly. But he didn't let his worry show.  
"I know, I know." He started to take a step forward, then stopped, because it was cracking there too. "But you're gonna be alright. You're not gonna fall in. We're, um, we're gonna have a little fun instead."  
"No, we're not!"  
"Hey, would I trick you?"  
"Yes, you always play tricks!"  
"Well, not this time. I promise, I promise. You're gonna be fine. You have to believe in me." Lily took a deep breath. "You want to play a game? We're gonna play hopscotch, like we play every day. It's as easy as one." Jack took a careful step towards his sister. "Two. . ." He took another step and pretended to almost fall over. Lily giggled. "Three." He knelt and picked up a stick with a hook on the end. "Alright. Now it's your turn."  
He smiled at her. Lily smiled back, and took one brave step towards her brother. "One." said Jack, as she stepped. "That's it. Two. . . Three!"  
. The ice cracked fast, but Jack was faster. As soon as Lily was close enough, he hooked the stick around her middle and flung her to safety.  
Lily sat up and smiled adoringly at her big brother. He laughed and started to stand up- and the ice cracked. There was one horrible second of realization. One single moment when Jack knew what was about to happen. His brown eyes widened, and he flung out his long skinny arms. But it was no use. Jack fell under the pond's skin of ice.  
Jack disappeared, leaving his sister calling uncertainly, "Jack? Jack!" But he couldn't hear, because his whole world had turned into a silent ice cold void. Jack was a relatively strong swimmer. But when you're dying of cold, it doesn't matter how strong a swimmer you are. It wasn't much of a fight. Jack didn't want to, but in the end, he had to give in to the freezing water.  
Through the numbing cold of the ice, Jack felt his strength leave him. His eyes couldn't see anything but moon, so they closed. He couldn't feel anything. Everything was cold. So, so cold.

Jack would see the surface again. But it would be too late. By that time his rosy cheeks would turn pale as death, his hair white as snow. Jack would see the world through eyes of ice blue. But no one would see him.


	2. Chapter 2

I stood at the edge of the hole. "Jack?" He had to be joking, right? He hadn't actually fallen in, right? "Jack?" He was about to pop up, wasn't he? "_Jack?_" Now I was worried. Not even Jack could hold his breath that long. I stood there for three more seconds- then I took off running back to the house. Later, I would curse myself for those three seconds. For all I know, they could have been Jack's life and his death.  
I arrived, panting, at the house a minute later. I burst in the door. "Heavens, child, what's wrong?" said Mother, dusting off her floury hands off on her apron.  
"Jack- pond- fell in- help!"  
Mother's eyes widened. "Jack fell in the pond?"

I could only nod.

"How long ago?"

I regained some of my breath. "A couple minutes. We have to go, we have to help!"

Tears were beginning to start in her eyes. "Pippa. . ."

"No, we have to go!" How did she not get it? We had to save Jack, we had to save my brother.

Mother let me drag her back to the pond. She kept trying to say something, but I didn't give her time to talk. I didn't want to hear it. I knew what she was trying to say, but I felt like if I could stop her from saying it, it might not be true.

I stood at the shore of the pond, hoping desperately. And fruitlessly. No Jack magically appeared, no matter how hard I wished.

I crept slowly forward, towards the gaping hole Jack had fallen through. "Please." I whispered. "Please let Jack be okay." I looked up to where the moon shone in the sky. "I need my big brother to be okay." Tears pricked at the corner of my eyes, making my childish plea seem even younger.

I stayed there while my finger and nose practically froze, until Mother placed one of her warm hands on my shoulder. "Pippa. . . You can't stay here forever."

No, I had to. I had to stay here. Maybe if I stayed here long enough, Jack will come back up. He has to, right? Because Jack _can't_ be dead. He _can't_ be gone. He can't be, because my brother was the most alive person I knew. I mean, _is_ the most alive person I _know_.

"Pippa, we have to go. You'll freeze out here." If I go back to the house, it'll be like admitting he's truly gone. If I stay here, I can pretend that he'll pop back up, grinning that playful grin, eyes sparkling, and he'll say, "Oh, Pippy, you didn't really think I was gone!" He'll ruffle my hair and laugh at my silliness. Then he'll scoop me up, and bring me back to the house in his warm arms. I need that to happen.

Now I'm in somebody's warm arms, but they're not my brother's. They're my mother's. And even though I love my mother as much as anything, my brother was my best friend, and the person I was closest to. He was the person who knew all my secrets, and never told a single one to anyone else.

And he died saving me. He died. Because of me, he died. He's gone, and he's never coming back. I curled up in my mother's arms. She's crying too, even though she's trying not to, for my sake. Of course she's crying, her son just died. She loved him. Everybody did. It's practically impossible not to love Jack. At least, for me and Mother, and nearly every girl in Burgess.

At long last, I fall asleep. I don't want to have to wake up. Because when I wake up, I have to face Jack's absence. When I'm asleep, I can dream that my big brother never went near that pond.

Every time I feel the frost nip my fingers and nose, I remember that day. The day my brother died. Eventually, I learned to ignore the feeling. Well, not ignore it, just. . . take comfort from it. I can pretend it's my brother there, not just a force of nature. Once or twice I was sure I saw him, grinning his slightly manic grin, clutching that stick, the one he used to save me. One difference, though. His hair was white and his eyes were blue. Every time I thought I saw him, I would shake my head and smile, and hope he was happy wherever he was. But he was always good at being happy.

I have one slim hope. They never found my brother's body. So maybe I can hope that somewhere, he's okay. Just like I asked for him to be. I was never quite sure who I was asking. Maybe God. Maybe the sky. Maybe, I was asking the moon.


End file.
